fighting continued for a third day between israel and militants in gaza. air raid sirens rang out again in tel aviv. rocket fire targeted jerusalem, the first time that's happened since 1970. >>> harry reid has rejected a call by republicans for a select committee to investigate the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. and an explosion ripped through an oil rig in the gulf of mexico earlier. 11 people hurt, two are still missing. back to "hardball." ♪ >>> our challenge is to make sure that, you know, we are able to cooperate together, work together, find some common ground, make some tough compromises, build some consensus to do the people's business. >> still seems a little tired from the election there. back to "hardball." today president obama met with congressional leaders to kick off talks to avoid that fiscal cliff. it caps a week in which he's reached out to union leaders, business leaders, congressional leaders to soften the ground for a deal. at exactly is the white house driveway. the congressional leaders, boehner, reid, pelosi, mcconnell